The Buddy System
The Buddy System is the 31st episode of The Venture Bros. and is part of Season 3. Plot The episode begins with a commercial for Rusty's Day Camp for Boy Adventurers. It cuts to Dr. Venture sitting at an autograph table on the front lawn of the Venture compound voicing his appreciation for his fans to a less than impressed Brock. They are approached by Tim-Tom and Kevin, the Murderous Moppets, who are disguised as children to infiltrate the day camp for The Monarch. Only Brock sees through their deception. Billy Quizboy, Action Johnny, The Order of the Triad and the Ghost Pirate Captain are all hosting booths at the day camp where they make presentations to the kids. Johnny is no longer addicted to narcotics but he is still highly unstable. Hank and Dean meet another teenager named Dermott Fictel who wears an army jacket and is a rude, obnoxious, pathological liar. Dermott impresses Hank by boasting that his father is in black ops and he never met him, but Dean does not like him. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch catches The Monarch talking to Tim Tom and Kevin on his laptop and accuses him of arching Dr. Venture again. She has also designed a new costume which is more butterfly themed than the previous one. Brock is confronted by Dermott while giving a Judo demonstration. Dermott smugly insists that his hands are registered as deadly weapons by the government and that he could easily defeat Brock in combat. Brock is clearly angered, but is interrupted before he can do violence against the teenager by Dr. Venture, who picks up all the kids on a people mover and takes them to see his father's bio dome. Hank and Dermott insult Dr. Venture during the ride on the people mover. Everything goes horribly wrong in the bio-dome and one of the children is mauled to death by some sort of ape creature. Billy Quizboy and Dr. Venture manage to escape with the rest of the children intact, but Billy loses his mechanical hand in the process. Brock seeks advice from Dr. Orpheus concerning his frustration with the obnoxious Dermott. He concludes that, while it is wrong to do violence to Dermott himself, it would be okay to get another kid to do it. He attempts to recruit the Murderous Moppets for this purpose, but decides against it when they imply they will stab the boy to death. Unable to find Hank, he attempts to train Dean to beat up Dermott. Dean proves too physically pathetic to do so. All of the characters meet up at the main stage for the big day camp finale, in which Action Johnny is joined by a special guest, Dr. Z. Johnny has a complete breakdown and has to be carried away by Brock. Dermott makes fun of Brock to Hank, Dean and Triana Orpheus, who are all sitting in the stands. When Dermott insults Triana, Dean becomes enraged and beats Dermott badly with his fists. Dr. Venture wants to break up the fight, but a smiling Brock keeps him back, insisting that kids will be kids. Suddenly, Sergeant Hatred arrives on the hovertank and his henchmen attack the Venture compound's shrubbery. Brock kills one of his henchmen and Sergeant Hatred and Dr. Venture call a time out to discuss the indiscretion. They conclude that Hatred misread his arching schedule and attacked at the wrong time. Rusty introduces Hatred to Dr. Z, his childhood hero, and a good time is had by all. At the end of the night parents are picking up their kids on the steps of the Venture Compound. Dr. Venture has cloned the dead child and manages to fool the parents into believing the clone is the original, despite it being barely viable. Hank talks to his new friend Dermott some more before Dermott gets into a car with his mom, whose face is hidden in darkness. She asks if he met "him," to which Dermott replies "Yeah, he was okay. Are you sure he's my real father?" Cultural references *Action Johnny is Jonny Quest, and Dr. Z is meant to be Dr. Zin, one of Jonny Quest's archnemeses. During season 3 there has been a shift from using the real names of the Johnny Quest characters. *At the beginning of the episode, behind Dr. Venture there are several barrels with a sign above them proclaiming "Throw 'em". This is in reference to Jonny Quest where Race Bannon would throw barrels at anything and everything. *In a rather blatant self-reference joke, Dr. Venture contemptuously dismisses the idea of a cartoon series called "The Venture Bros." *Dermott says that Triana looks like a Suicide Girl, a reference to an erotic Web site featuring pinups of goth/alternative girls such as Triana. *The monstrous apes in the bio-dome are likely a reference to the 1980 Michael Crichton book Congo, or the film based thereon. Dr. Venture's attempts to pacify the ape are reminiscent of interactions with Koko, as well as other "talking gorillas." *The Pirate Captain's exhibit aims to cultivate interest in small-time diversionary menace (as opposed to the decidedly more grandiose career of super-villainy)... "chasing off meddlin' kids, and wearing rubber masks." This of course was his own vocation (in which he was admittedly unsuccessful) in Ghosts of the Sargasso. The Captain then gives several instances of this endeavor, straight from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: **A ghost Miner 49er is from "Mine Your Own Business" **The ghost pirate captain is Redbeard from "Go Away, Ghost Ship" * The Pirate Captain also expresses admiration for his career by noting he looks like Johnny Depp, an obvious reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean films. *During the snapshots The Pirate Captain poses like Captain Morgan *The Pirate Captain claims he has met Cher, and 'the guy who did the voice for Inspector Gadget' Connections to other episodes * Towards the beginning of the episode, Dr. Venture tries to dismiss Hank by telling him that the kids at the camp are here to see "Rusty", and breaks the fourth wall by saying that "maybe if you had your own cartoon called 'The Venture Brothers', they would all be here to see you". * The relationship between Triana and Dean seems to have progressed considerably: instead of being cynic and deadpan towards Dean, she appears playful and flirtatious. * Hank is shown wearing his Cobra Kai themed gi and helping Brock demonstrate judo for the kids. In the Season 2 Finale, Hank said, "Come on, Brock! I probably know judo!" * This episode shows Sergeant Hatred continuing his campaign of bare-minimum aggression. He has Dr. Venture sign a form to confirm receipt of the "arching action" -- implying that The Guild of Calamitous Intent requires a minimum level of attacks for the "arching" relationship. Production notes * One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For "The Buddy System" the credit reads Kimson "Spinning Murder Top" Albert. The Buddy System